Always Running

Always Running is a memoir recounting Rodriguez's adolescence as a member of street gangs in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s. The book depicts violence, drug addiction, encounters with police, and the systemic conditions affecting working-class Mexican American communities during that era.

Yes, the book has been the subject of repeated censorship attempts and has been removed from school reading lists and libraries in several districts, typically on grounds of its depictions of gang violence, drug use, and explicit language. Rodriguez has defended the book as a cautionary memoir and has noted that many young readers have contacted him saying it deterred them from gang involvement.

Rodriguez wrote a sequel titled It Calls You Back, which continues the story of his life beyond the period covered in Always Running, addressing his ongoing struggles with sobriety, family relationships, and his work as a community activist and writer. The sequel provides a fuller picture of the long-term consequences of his early experiences.

Always Running is widely regarded as a significant work within Chicano and Latino literary traditions, frequently assigned in ethnic studies and American literature courses at both the high school and university levels. Its combination of memoir, social critique, and coming-of-age narrative has drawn comparisons to other foundational Chicano autobiographical works.